A Variety of Information...

Yep. We're still here. Evie & Flash have been having a rash of pooping in the house lately which is really putting me in fits. I wonder how much has to do with Evie getting older & just not being "there" at times. (Actually as I write this she's giving me a stink eye.)




As for the Stella & Dot adventure, it's going along quite well. I've decided to keep helping greyhounds with my online commissions - I'll give 50% to help McGregor Greyhound Welfare Center in general. No expiration date! Order online any time & I will give to help their special needs hounds!



I think Flash has seasonal allergies. He's getting horrid eye boogers again. Seems to happen in fall as well. I'm also guessing he's going through a spell of separation anxiety that seems to wane & wax depending on the situation. But seriously, the pooping in the house needs to stop.

Help Special Needs Greyhounds with Stella & Dot

I adopted my greyhound, Flash, From McGregor Greyhound Welfare Center in Alabama & the staff was wonderful in helping him come home to me. I truly can’t imagine my life without him! He went from a shy, nervous dog to one who is happy and bouncing – always with a wagging tail! The adoption volunteers work very hard to place these wonderful greyhounds in homes not just in Alabama but in homes all over the country! Unfortunately, the group is a bit short on funds now to help some of their “special needs” dogs such as Maddock and Slick!

So what do you have to do to help?!?!

As a stylist with the ultra-fashionable Stella & Dot jewelry, I am going to be holding an “online only” trunk show starting immediately until December 31, 2011

Just purchase any item(s) from my personal Stella & Dot website – www.stelladot.com/cindipatterson - and I will donate 50% of my commission from all purchases during this period to McGregor Greyhound Welfare Center for the benefit of their special needs dogs!

And for a super fun bonus…

Normally, if you held a trunk show in your home, as the hostess, you would be eligible to receive free and half priced jewelry based on the totally amount of sales from the event.

Because this is trunk show is “online only” - anyone making an order in excess of $150, will have his/her name entered in a drawing held on January 1, 2012 to be the online “hostess” & receive the hostess perks of free and half-priced jewelry!

(The amount of benefits you’ll ultimately receive will depend on the total amount of the overall “online only” show)

In short, you’ll look fabulous for spring in some gorgeous jewelry, help special needs greyhounds AND have the chance to win some free jewelry too!

Thank you!
Cindi Patterson
Stella & Dot Stylist
www.stelladot.com/cindipatterson

p.s. if you're quick, you can still order by December 19th & receive your items in time for Christmas!

We're Baaaccckkkk!

Well things have certainly changed. For the better I hope. A very trying summer has led into an interesting fall, and what so far, as been a good winter. Flash & Evie are still together with me. Gracie is behind at the house. Without going into all the sordid details, I tried to keep all three dogs together, but logistically, I was unable to do so when I moved. We still see Gracie most weekends [as we just took her out this past Sunday]. She's quite lonely being an only dog now, and certain people work too much to care about her well-being & spend time with her, but I hope she'll adjust over time.

Flash is not the same dog I talked about a year ago or even 6mo ago! It's amazing! He's friendly, outgoing, and quite cheeky with other dogs when we're out & about.

Evie is doing well. She turned 11yrs on 10/17 and I hope to spend many more years with her! She can still be weird at times. But that's Evie. Next week she's going in for a dental & will probably lose half her remaining teeth :(

And me... the job situation is [unfortunately] stagnant. But I'm starting a GREAT supplemental opportunity to bring in some extra money & keep these dogs in the style to which they've become accustom! What is it you ask???? I will be a stylist for Stella & Dot Jewelry! Go check them out - and if you need anything, of course shoot me a message :)

Loving where I live now. Loving the great group of friends I've made over the last 7mo. Love the support I've received from friends in Australia, England, and all over the US. Odd how I can almost trust friends I've made who are thousands of miles away rather than those who are closer.

Here's a picture to tide you over. I'll write more later! Glad to be back :)

Things are Changing...

Things at home are in a state of transition. Not sure about everything now but will have to post about it at a later time.

Here are pictures from the past two weeks:

Dogs Can Get Concussions [long...]

Who knew? I learned on Saturday. After running all over town to have sets of race jackets made for Gracie & Flash and signing them up for LGRA [straight racing] and NOTRA [oval racing] for the weekend, Saturday's straight racing finally arrived.

Practiced Flash a few times in & out of the boxes to get him used to it - and the noise. When the boxes open, they can make quite a banging sound. And knowing Flash, any unknown or unfamiliar noise can cause panic. He did VERY well with the help of a pharoh hound owner! Time to qualify...a nice lady who owns silken windhounds [totally cute little borzoi/whippet cross of a dog - bigger than a whippet but smaller than a greyhound] took Flash & Gracie down to load them into the boxes while I waited at the other end to "catch" them! Perfection! Thundering greyhounds. Flash overshot the lure. Gracie dove for it - hit her head & her right shoulder flared out in an odd angle.

Walking off the field, Gracie started to collapse. She couldn't seem to put weight on her right side and her breathing seemed "off." Did she have a dislocated shoulder or break something? I screamed for help as I couldn't get her to stand & was also trying to deal with Flash. Gracie's eyes appeared to glaze over but she could somewhat focus on people. She had weird shallow breathing - not the huge chest expanding breaths a greyhound should be taking at this point. ER vet? Her gums turned a weird purpl-ish color. Hmmm. Ran to the car & by the time I got it down to her, people carried her to me & her color came back. She began breathing normally, drank some water. Loaded up Flash & made the almost 2hr drive from down near Tacoma to Snohomish to the vet.

Xrays taken. Not her trachea [thought maybe cause she seemed to be breathing oddly], not her lungs. Diagnosis = mild head trauma [aka minor concussion]. Didn't even know dogs could have such a thing, but apparently it does happen.

SIGNS OF A CONCUSSION:

• Losing conciousness for a period of time [though not always]


• Woozy or disoriented behaviour [normally from a mild/light blow]


• Vomiting, not eating OR eating normally & vomiting frequently


• Dilated pupils in one or both eyes


• Seizures


• Lethargic, extremely tired or disoriented


• Difficult to wake if excessively sleepy


• Aggressive behaviour if the bruised area is touched


• Head tilted or hanging in an odd manner

Not all of these symptoms are present but if any are, you should probably consider going to the vet as there could be a more underlying condition like a skull fracture, brain swelling or bleeding. Seizures are normally a sign of a severe brain injury. It doesn't matter how hard you were hit, but HOW you were hit. A bump on the head doesn't have to be big and dramatic to cause a lot of damage.

By the time we arrived home, Gracie was back to her normal self. Ate fine, drinking fine, and played a little. Papa was up a few times with her overnight to check on her & let her out to potty. Honestly, I was disappointed that they didn't get to run a full program of straights as the qualifying run looked SO good but I'm SO glad Gracie is OK!

Sunday, we went down for the oval racing. On vet advice [and stern lecture], Gracie wasn't allowed [quite frustrating because she was SO eager & excited] to run so we turned in their paperwork to get NOTRA numbers for next time and signed up Flash for practices.

I was concerned because Gracie wasn't running with him & was unsure if he'd run without her or freak in the boxes despite doing fine yesterday. WOW we were wrong! Flash & Gracie were QUITE vocal in the car watching the whippets run. Barking. Spinning. Yelping & yipping. Annoying, yet fun :)

Gracie & Flash watching the action with papa...

Let me at that lure papa!


And a brief run preview:

Wish Us Luck...

So, Flash has had many digestive issues since he's been here in September. All sorts of trials, probiotics, etc. Determined lamb is too rich for him; salmon & sweetpotato by Diamond [at Costco] showed some improvement but ultimately too rich I think. Settled on Kirkland Chicken...

Gracie also has digestive problems. Massive antibiotics for an infection she had plus probiotics helped marginally. Her continual plant/foliage/shrubbery eating + the poo eating = she's lacking something in her diet. I started her on vitamin supplement in her food this week - but I'm suspect that it may be giving her the horrid runny poo/diarrhea she has now.

Now to be fair, I've fed super high premium dog foods before [AvoDerm, Canidae, etc] until my dogs went from 2 to 5. When I had 5 adult *performance* greyhounds in my house that ate through 2.5 bags [at 40lbs each] per month - $50+ per bag would've been insane. Kirkland was a great choice & my dogs did great on it for years. They were also supplemented by raw food with their kibbles.

So...It came down to a choice between Go! grain free and Taste of the Wild. I went with the bison Taste of the Wild. Hopefully the meat will be nice & neutral - not too rich - for Flash. Hopefully it will provide plenty of vitamins for Gracie. Maybe the extreme gas will stop too.

From their website:



Protein: 32% Fat: 18%
Calcium: 2.1%, as-fed; Phosphorus: 1.4%, as-fed
Calories: 3,719 kcal/kg (370 kcal/cup) Calculated Metabolizable Energy
Available in 5lb, 15lb and 30lb bags.

Ingredients
Bison, lamb meal, chicken meal, egg product, sweet potatoes, peas, potatoes, canola oil, roasted bison, roasted venison, natural flavor, tomato pomace, ocean fish meal, salt, choline chloride, dried chicory root, tomatoes, blueberries, raspberries, yucca schidigera extract, dried fermentation products of Enterococcus faecium, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus casei and Lactobacillus plantarum, dried Trichoderma longibrachiatum fermentation extract, vitamin E supplement, iron proteinate, zinc proteinate, copper proteinate, ferrous sulfate, zinc sulfate, copper sulfate, potassium iodide, thiamine mononitrate (vitamin B1), manganese proteinate, manganous oxide, ascorbic acid, vitamin A supplement, biotin, niacin, calcium pantothenate, manganese sulfate, sodium selenite, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), vitamin B12 supplement, riboflavin (vitamin B2), vitamin D supplement, folic acid

Yes, it's much higher in protein than Kirkland, so hopefully it won't be too rich...but wish us luck...I bought a small bag tonight & mixed it in with the Kirkland...

It's Been Awhile...

and I know I promised myself I'd blog more this year. What happened?

Update on the dogs:
Flash is doing TONS better. He still has his moments. I'm thinking more about his behaviour, and his biggest phobia is new situations [not terribly uncommon] and the door. He's afraid of the door - as I think he thinks it's going to pinch him when he comes in the house. Coming in the house can totally freak him out. He's getting better around men - and warming to Alan more. He even sleeps with us in bed at night.

Gracie. She's very loving and friendly. Loves to lick your face and can be held like a baby. She's still *very* enthusiastic about things, and follows you everywhere to the point of being annoying. Her new nick-name is "chicane." She has also stolen 3 peanut butter & jelly sandwhiches off the counter [2 in one day no less] because someone in the house makes them, leaves them close to the edge, then walks away to do something else. She's also about to start a new vitamin supplement in hopes of stopping her eating poo and the plants in the back yard.

Evie. Started Glyoflex III tablets as the arthritis has been rearing its ugly head of late. After all the running today, she'll probably get a tramadol for pain at dinner. I just want her to have fun in her later years, as well as be comfortable & as pain free as possible.

Everyone [well, namely Flash & Gracie] are improving on their off leash skills. Today we went to the other side of the off-leash park nearby that has access to the river. It flooded a few months ago & the river changed a bit. There used to be a big sandy area to run - so maybe it will reappear this summer. Right now, I didn't want them too close as the current was wayyyyy to fast and cold!

Wordless Wednesday

Pretty.

We had some snow right before the new year - and because it stayed in the low 30s during the day, it stuck around for awhile. Just an inch or two, but it was pretty with all the snow near the house. It was also in the teens at night - so it all turned to crunchy icy snow :( Odd as downtown Seattle where I work had absolutely nothing! It will start to finally disappear this weekend as rain is expected.

Holiday Lights

I've posted about this before, but since everyone loves xmas lights...What else can you say. The Welsh are cool. So are their sheep. And LED lights are cool to the touch - the sheep won't get burnt [we left LED lights plugged in on our live xmas tree last year & they stayed cool for hours & days on end].

Thank you and welcome...

Thank you to everyone who sent me and Evie notes from reading all about her over on Jen's blog! England seems like it was a million years ago. It's hard to believe Evie is 10yrs old now - and her trip will have been 6yrs ago this coming February.

I firmly believe that every greyhound [or any dog for that matter] has a talent. Evie was certainly great at coursing - she also did well in lure coursing [ASFA] - and participated in amateur oval [NOTRA] and straight racing [LGRA]. There were better greyhounds from the US that could've gone to England [namely her 1/2 sister Cherry] - I was just lucky because Evie was NGA registered! [AKC registered GH can't run there.]

There are plenty of GH that are fabulous in other sports as well. My dog Oliver was a wiz at NOTRA & LGRA - sadly he died too young. Jen's dogs do aces at obedience & agility. My first GH, my love, Newell, was a track dog through & through - his passion was the mechanical lure - and he was good at it! I view the dogs like kids - some are good at football, some baseball, some drama, some dance. Some kids like to stay home and read books all day.

Try a sport or activity with your GH - even if it's taking hikes in your local parks/wilderness areas. Your GH was an athlete and they enjoy exercise & being outside & being competitive on some level! Evie, sadly, is retired now. She squeaks and aches when she plays in the yard too hard with new brother Flash. Too much arthritis in her hands & feet from all the years of hard core running. But, the true competitor she is - I also know she'd give me 120% if I asked her to run again. So our adventures now are limited to local hikes and walks - and the hard running is only in her dreams.

And on that note...welcome to Gracie [Pat C Dark Moon]. She arrived in Las Vegas when we were there this past weekend. She's home now - and what a handful! A few issues we have to work on - namely counter-surfing - but she's going to give Flash a run for his money! She's about a 1/2 inch taller than Evie, but just as slight as Evie was in her prime!

She wiggles quite a bit so it's been hard to get a semi-decent photo of her!

Waiting for Santa [and other things]...

Here we are waiting to have our picture taken with Santa. Flash is on the reindeer substitution list if someone gets sick. Let's be honest - greyhounds would get the job done *much* faster than reindeer.

Gracie arrives one week from today. Whheeeee! I think. We're afraid she'll be a little whirling dervish. She weighs in at 59.6lbs as of the day she was spayed. About 5lbs bigger than Evie.

And... to get a bit of background about Evie and fun sports, take a look over at Never Say Never Greyhounds - or click the link on the right. Jennifer is re-posting the article about Evie that appeared in the Spring 2005 CG Magazine.

Hello. My name is...

So, we're still working with Flash's shyness & timid tinkling issues. He's got moments of brilliance then he takes 10 steps backwards for what appears to be no apparent reason. Well, Flash has a reason but he hasn't opted to share it with us at this point. [And thank you Jennifer for sending us your DAP spray. We put it on the blankets in our crates...]

Several books, including a book on shy dogs and clicker training [illustrated no less] were ordered. Along with a book on managing a multi-dog household in a positive manner. Now, I've had a multi-dog household and I thought I was managing it as best I could. I think I can do better. I WANT to do better. I want to be better for Evie and Flash...and Gracie!




Meet Gracie [Pat C Dark Moon]. I actually wanted to pay homage to her southern roots and call her Pie, a la Dark Moon Pie but I was vetoed. I had originally posted about her back-story but decided to remove it for a wide variety of reasons.

We really know nothing about her except she's not cat safe. She was a decent runner so we hope she'll be fun & help out Flash too. She's catching a ride us just in time for Christmas! What a full household all of a sudden - hence my goal to work on positive training. Not to say I wasn't positive before, sometimes I think things dissolved into chaos though. This will be better and help me keep my sanity!

Still...

An upset tummy. Back at the vet. Still a LOT of bacteria in the gut. More antibiotics for 2 weeks this time. Then we'll try more hard-core gut tests to see if it's something like IBD [inflammatory bowel disease] - tests run out of Baylor vet school. Keep on the salmon & sweet potato grain free with probiotics. At the vet...I hear you coming for me Dr. Wilson...



On a fun note, I took Evie to a Petapalooza festival here in town back in September right before we went to get Flash. They were making clay paw prints. Evie had one made & we went to pick it up today.

Upset Tummy

So, we figured part of Flash's problems & nerves were because he was sick. Partially true. Vet + stool sample = bacterial infection in his tummy = metronidazole for 2 weeks and some prebiotics. Meds are done. Still continuing on the prebiotics for his tummy [OptaGest brand].

STILL having pudding coming out of his butt :( Bad. I've mixed in canned pumpking, oatmeal, eggs, yogurt. Kibble was originally Kirkland lamb & rice - which I've fed for YEARS to all my dogs & never had a problem. Recently switched/added in the new Kirkland food - the salmon & sweet potato grain free. Evie is absolutely SOLID. Perfect. I've mixed in dehydrated raw - always have - including Addiction & Honest Kitchen, Evangers & Merrick canned food, and just plain ol' ground beef or chicken.

Neither dog is a picky eater. Cautious - as Evie will sniff everything carefully before digesting as my guess is she's trying to ensure it's not poisoned - but they'll both eat and polish the bowls clean.

I'd really hate to switch from the Kirkland food. I've been happy with it. But, maybe it's time for a change as Flash's tummy can't handle it. I really DREAD having to do food experimentation now :( but I'm realizing it's unavoidable to get him feeling better.

Suggestions welcome!

Happy Halloween

The requisite Halloween pictures...we were pumpkins this year.

And we went to the park today. BEAUTIFUL fall day. The sun didn't fully break until after lunch, so I'm glad we held off & didn't go to the park until later. I had them dressed in their coats, which promptly came off as it was way too warm for them - even though it was in the low-mid 50s.



The DAP collar we are using with Flash also seems to be helping a LOT. Combined with the DAP diffuser [like a little glade plug-in] and his thundershirt, I think we have a winning combination. Well, the disclaimer being that he's not 100% cured of his anxieties, but his anxiety level has decreased from 100 to about 50 - which is significant. I'm also trying to note what his "triggers" may be - and narrow it down so we can learn things to work around them or overcome them if possible. His biggest trigger seems to be men. How to get over that fear?

Baby Steps

Here we were at the vet getting our microchip after only a few days at home. He did *aces* at the vet - a bit of trembling - and we're hoping the scale was somewhat accurate since he was trembling so hard :) The longer we were there, the more he calmed down & started/attempted to relax. Even when that gigantic microchip needle was inserted, not even a peep...

Other adventures have to be downloaded off the camera, but we've been to the dog park twice. Good results both times. A large amount of trembling & the longer we're there, the more the tail comes unpinned from his tummy and relaxes. And this Sunday, he ACTUALLY CHASED A SQUIRREL!!! And he got 3 other greys to join him in the chase! Yeah Flash!

We're also wearing the thundershirt almost all the time. We aren't sure if it's helping or not - but for $37 and a 45 day money back guarantee - what can it hurt???

More pictures to come!

He's Home...

We picked up Flash in Broomfield/Westminster CO on Friday morning. Headed to the dog park to let him stretch his legs and take in some scenery - and get to know Evie a bit better. The car ride home was perfect too.

He and Evie slept in the back perfectly the entire time. They were both muzzled - though Evie was quite unhappy about that. He's still a bit shy and unsure of himself but he's following Evie around the yard and starting to get the lay of the house.

Two favorite places - his crate and his bed in the corner of the bedroom. He won't eat in the kitchen - only in his crate or bed. Typical since he was likely fed in his crate at the kennels, but how to get this to stop???

He's also super white and pink - translucent - with one patch of red above his left eye. And parti ears!



We're still deciding if his name will be changed. His full name is CTW Flash Gordon.

Pedigree Adoption Drive

• This year the PEDIGREE Adoption Drive is raising awareness for homeless dogs by donating a bowl of food to shelter dogs for everyone who becomes a “Fan” or “Likes” The PEDIGREE Adoption Drive on Facebook. So far more than 1 million bowls have been donated.
• Special for BlogPaws West: For each blog that posts about the PEDIGREE® Adoption Drive through September 19th, PEDIGREE® will donate a bag of their new Healthy Longevity Food for Dogs to shelters nationwide. It’s simple: Write a post, help a dog.
• Thursday, September 16 through Sunday, September 19, the Pedigree BlogPaws bloggers will host a Blog Hop, to help raise awareness for the “Write a post, help a dog” effort.
  ___________________________________________
  
  At the end of the day, there's nothing worse than watching an animal go hungry. Look at little greyhound Sweetheart - and look what some food has done for her! So, I was at the DoggieStock event sponsored by Valley Animal Partners & got tons of samples of food. Went to Starbucks. Leaving & there was this guy there with a sign on the corner & his dog. No dog [or cat] should go hungry. I'm a shmuck - here I am with a sack full of sample foods & Evie in the back seat. I do NOT give money to homeless people for a wide variety of reasons - but this guy had his dog with him. I pulled up, asked him if he needed food for his dog, and proceeded to unload a ton of samples [ok, I kept 3 and 1 can of food]. Again, no dog [or cat] should go hungry.

Almost Home!

One more week and the new kid will be home. I've been trying to get Evie excited about him coming. She's quite ambivalent. Sent his harness [a No-Pull Harness from Wiggles Wags & Whiskers] so he can get used to wearing it before his trip. Got his matching collar as well - and ordered a fancy kangaroo leather tag collar from Hi Tide Creations. Holding off on a coat till he gets here.



[And for people not familiar with greyhounds, no Flash isn't wearing a muzzle because he's dangerous. Greyhounds have notoriously thin skin and playing with friends can turn what would seem like a tiny cut on most dogs into a huge wound on a greyhound.]


I'm also a big fat liar. I complained well over a year ago "what's the point of twitter?" Well, Evie has had a twitter account for awhile now. She's made lots of friends all around the world! Not very exciting about what a greyhound does all day, but it's fun :)


And a quick "thank you" to Jennifer and her dogs over at NeversayNeverGreyhounds as she's writing a little story on her site about Evie! Greyhounds excel in all sorts of sports - Evie was good at lure coursing and open field coursing. Stay tuned...